updated 02:05 pm EDT, Fri May 4, 2012

Shareholders allege executives misled

Handset maker Nokia has come under legal fire, CNetreports today, and now faces a suit seeking damages for the company's poor and deteriorating performance. The suit argues that Nokia's executives have done a disservice to shareholders, and that shareholders are entitled to damages.

The class-action lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeks damages for anyone who held Nokia shares between October 26, 2011 and April 10. The suit maintains that Nokia executives misled shareholders when they promised that Nokia's move to the Windows Phone platform would change its sagging fortunes in the handset market. That change has not materialized, and the company's stock has taken multiple hits in the wake of its flagging handset sales.

Plaintiffs in the case seek damages from Nokia for diminished stock value over the last six months. Nokia representatives, though, remain optimistic about the company's future, citing positive signs in the early sales of the Lumia handset, as well as affirming a commitment to moving the company back toward the number one sales spot it previously held.

Nokia early last year established its strategic partnership with Microsoft, though the first Lumia handsets did not arrive until until the end of the year in European markets. The flagship Lumia 900 was generally well received when it arrived in the US last month, despite a few early bugs, and is said to have sustained better-than-expected sales that have forced the company to delay the UK launch by several weeks.